ENHANCING EFFICIENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH JOINED-UP MONITORING Some of the key aspirations of the 2030 Agenda are to “realise human rights of all” and to “leave no one behind”. Hence, the Agenda is underpinned by legally-binding human rights treaties and labour standards, with institutionalised monitoring mechanisms.
Consequently, the monitoring mechanisms set up to guide implementation of human rights and labour standards can also monitor the implementation of the SDGs.
This provides an unprecedented opportunity to pursue joined-up approaches to the realisation and measurement of human rights and sustainable development, including in the context of small-scale fisheries. There is thus a significant potential for states to align their reporting and follow-up procedures to boost efficiency and accountability32. Moreover, under indicator 14.b.1, most countries report that they are doing well in providing access of small-scale fishers to marine resources and markets. However, data from the human rights and labour standards monitoring mechanisms can complement existing SDG target 14.b monitoring and help identify challenges and uneven progress, including by identifying vulnerable groups within the sector.
Finally, it is worth noting that a number of these mechanisms have complaints procedures, which allow them to consider complaints or communications from
individuals about violations of rights. Hence, they can enhance accountability in a very direct way.
THE ADDED VALUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING
States that have ratified international human rights instruments and labour standards have an obligation to ensure that the rights enshrined in these instruments are protected, respected and fulfilled for everyone within the country.
The application of these rights in a given country is monitored in an ongoing process, which include state reporting and regular examinations through institutionalised monitoring mechanisms. Civil society organisations and others can also submit supplementary information and reports. Monitoring can also include country visits, specific investigations and examination of complaints.
Monitoring mechanisms are established at the:
• International level, through the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
32 For further information and analysis on this see the DIHR reports on “Integrated review and reporting on SDGs and human rights: A key to effective, efficient and accountable
implementation” and “Human rights in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” https://www.humanrights.dk/what-we-do/sustainable-development-goals/sdgs-follow-review
22
• Regional level, through regional human rights systems set up in Africa, Europe and the Americas
• National level, through National Human Rights Institutions and other independent oversight bodies.
The in-depth and inclusive nature of these monitoring processes result in qualitative, context-specific information about the situation of human rights and labour standards in each country, and related to specific rights-holder groups such as women, children, persons with disabilities, migrants, indigenous peoples, etc. Based on the systematic review of information, these monitoring mechanisms produce recommendations and observations to individual states to improve the human rights situation.
When states receive such recommendations, they are expected to address and tackle the issue and present information about progress in their next human rights examination. Small-scale fishers, fish workers and other actors at national level can use these recommendations to further hold states accountable and push for action and redress. This way, human rights monitoring play an important role in driving human rights realisation on the ground,
including within the small-scale fisheries sector.
In summary, human rights monitoring and reporting mechanisms can provide:
• Systematised qualitative analysis and data on the human rights situation of small-fishers and fish workers as well as
vulnerable groups within the sector in specific countries
• Accountability and access to justice for victims of human rights violations in the context of small-scale fisheries
• Identification of specific and systemic implementation challenges related to target 14.b, as well as recommendations and guidance to overcome these.
• Best practice on systematic engagement of small-scale fishers, fish works and other stakeholders in monitoring, reporting and follow-up, guided by principles of accountability, participation, transparency and access to information.
• Analysis of the importance of access to marine resources for small-scale fishers for the fulfilment of their economic, social and cultural rights and the realisation of the 2030 Agenda, including SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 (on poverty, food
security, health, gender, decent work and equality).
The judiciary can also constitute a source of data, in cases where a plaintiff seeks redress for a
potential human rights violation by the state or by a company. Beyond the individual cases, jurisprudence from national courts regarding disputes on access to marine resources and markets for small-scale fishers offers important contextualisation of human rights and documentation of human rights abuses, which should inform monitoring and implementation of SDG target 14.b.
23 Example of small-scale fishers claiming their human rights through the judicial
system. In South Africa a group of small-scale fishers won a court case on the grounds of equality and non-discrimination in the Equality Court of South Africa. A change in the national fisheries policy had introduced a quota system, which excluded small-scale fishers from getting quotas and thereby removed their access to marine resources. The policy also removed the right of small-scale fishers to take part in post-harvest activities. The Equality Court ruled the quota system had violated the human rights of the small-scale fishers and obliged the minister of fisheries to restore their access rights to marine resources and post-harvest activities. The ruling also obliged the minister of fisheries to include small-scale fishers in the development of policy on small-scale fisheries. In June 2012, a new policy for the small-scale fisheries sector in South Africa was adopted33.
DATA FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING SYSTEM RELEVANT TO TARGET 14.B Given the intertwined nature of human rights and SDGs, a number of recommendations and observations emerging from the UN human rights monitoring mechanisms are directly relevant for guiding implementation of target 14.b at the country level.
The human rights monitoring mechanisms of the United Nations are:
• The Treaty Bodies; consist of committees of independent experts that monitor State parties’ obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the rights set up in each of the core international human rights treaties. They monitor the full range of civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the rights of specific categories of persons including women, migrants, children, and persons with disability
• The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique peer-review mechanism under the Human Rights Council which provides periodic reviews of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States
• The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on all civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights, from a thematic or country-specific perspective.
33 M. Sowman et al. (2014) ‘Fishing for equality: Policy for poverty alleviation for South Africa’s small-scale fisheries’, Marine Policy. 46:31–42. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259996182_Fishing_for_equality_Policy_for_povert y_alleviation_for_South_Africa's_small-scale_fisheries
Many of the 190 legally binding conventions of the International Labour Organization are immediately relevant to the implementation of the SDG target 14.b. This,
obviously, is the case with the Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) but also the 8 ILO core conventions on forced labour, child labour, equality of opportunity and
treatment, and the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining are highly relevant for the sector. Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of Indigenous
24 At least 72 observations and recommendations35 from treaty bodies, UPR and Special Procedures are related to implementation of SDG 14, and the majority of these are directly related to target 14.b. The data mainly address access to marine resources for small-scale fishers, while access to markets has not yet been addressed.
Most of the observations and recommendations related to SDG 14 are from Treaty Bodies (38), followed by Special Procedures (28), while only few UPR recommendations (6) are related to SDG 14.
The following examples of cases addressed by different mechanisms under the UN human rights monitoring system, give an indication of the human rights standards and issues at stake when protecting access rights to marine resources for small-scale fishers.
Moreover, the examples are indicative of the potential for addressing barriers and challenges for small-scale fishers and seeking redress through the UN human rights system. The examples address the following issues:
1. Equality and non-discrimination
2. The right to an adequate standard of living 3. The right to a healthy environment
4. Access to marine resources
5. Displacement of small-scale fishers and implications of other economic sectors 34 https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:1:0::NO:::
35 The SDG – Human Rights Data Explorer by DIHR https://sdgdata.humanrights.dk/en and Universal Human Rights Index by OHCHR https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/search/basic
Special Procedures Treaty Bodies Universal Periodic Review
Total 28 38 6
28
38
6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40